


Crystals are sharp, but the pain of leaving is sharper.

by Trees_is_the_bees_knees



Category: Half Life VR but the AI are Self-Aware, Protozone
Genre: Death, HLVRAI, Half-Life VR But the AI is Self-Aware, cishets die am i right?, looks like my boy got thrown in into fucking acid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:41:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26726845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trees_is_the_bees_knees/pseuds/Trees_is_the_bees_knees
Summary: The Prototypes are out, and they can see the sky. But one person is stuck with thoughts of family.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	Crystals are sharp, but the pain of leaving is sharper.

Quintyl looked upon all their siblings, smiling softly.  
They did it.  
They got out.  
Together. Sure, maybe they were stuck with another person in their body, but they were technically intact. And the stars had never looked so beautiful. They lay down on the soft, Arizona sands with a sigh. They shut their eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

\----------------------

Alex opened his eyes with a yawn, looking at his side and seeing her. His lovely wife, Margaret, the only Margaret he’s known since college. He sat up, cracking his back as quiet as possible. Alex pulled the covers off of him, getting up and rifling through the closet. He pulled out the standard black mesa tie, a white polo with bright colours stained on the sleeves, and the lab coat he wore. He woke up early, because today was the day they were going to make a new prototype. Hopefully. Alex slipped on a pair of pants, pulled on the polo, and buttoned it up. He’d have to ask Margaret to help him with the tie in a bit, he always had trouble with the last bit. Alex opened the bedroom door, walking down the hall and looking at the pictures he passed every day. Him and Margaret’s graduation, holding Maxwell in their arms as they looked at the camera. That was a nice day, walking back home and getting Maxwell ice cream from Baskin Robbins. 

He looked at the next picture. Maxwell’s first day of Pre-K! Maxwell cried and cried, but then realized his parent’s would be with him, and after a promised trip to the park after, Maxwell gave in. Maxwell ended up not wanting to leave, but then was reminded of the park trip. God he loved his son so much, it was unbelievable. The house of course had a lot more pictures, like hiking trips and photographs of the sky. Alex had his whole future planned out. Black mesa had this ‘special’ healthcare plan. 

Alex was a good scientist, they needed him for as long as possible, so, they injected Margaret and him (as soon as Maxwell was old enough, he’d get an injection as well) with some kind of liquid. Supposably it held the key to immortality. Alex thought it was BS, but you know. He finally reached his son’s room, opening the door slowly. Maxwell was already awake, and playing with the mannequin head he INSISTED his parents buy him. Alex never understood what Maxwell liked about the thing, but he didn’t mind.

“Good morning Maxy! What are you doing up so early?” Alex smirked, stepping over and picking his son up.

“Goo moning Daddy!” Maxwell grinned. He still had on his PJ’s, but who’s to say this kid can’t go to Kindergarten in his PJ’s? It’s a nice day out, and Alex sure wished HE could go to work in PJ’s.

“How about we go downstairs, you want Captain Crunch or Frosted Wheats?” Alex swung the door open, making the door stopper boing. Maxwell always liked the sound it made. Alex looked over to his son, who was now explaining why Captain Crunch would always be his favourite. And that was his answer. Alex smiled and gently pat his son’s head, picking Maxwell up before they went down the stairs. Maxy didn’t like stairs. He fell once, and hasn’t gone down one since.

“Daddy, Daddy, Daddy! My teacher said that today, we’re going to be making mac-roni-neckalaces!” Maxwell stumbled on the words, but it wasn’t a problem. His son was learning, and that was the good thing. 

“Oh? Well I bet yours is going to be the best! Isn’t that right? Yours is gonna be the best!” Alex stepped onto the living room carpet, spinning his son around in the air. Maxwell giggled, letting out a squeal of joy.

“Yes!!! Higher Higher!!!” The boy laughed, but Alex stopped before Margaret woke up. Alex sighed softly, kissing his son on the head. They began their trek to the kitchen as Maxwell now began telling his dad about his dream. It was about dinosaurs, as usual. Alex sat his son down at the kitchen table, reaching into the cabinets and pulling out the box of cereal. 

“With or without milk?” Alex turned to face his son with a smile.

“Without pease!” Maxwell answered with a chirp as he threw his hands up in the air. He certainly was a very energetic child, and both his parents had to get him to wind down almost every day. It was a trait of his that they both wouldn’t trade for the world. 

“Fair enough! Now, while we wait for it to get soggy, how about you go get your backpack ready?” Alex poured the milk into the bowl, setting it aside. His son thought that cereal that wasn’t soggy hurt his teeth, and that was okay. Maxwell nodded, running out to the living room. 

And before they both knew it, they were at the front door. A very groggy looking Margaret helping Alex out with his tie. 

“God… You need to learn how to tie these things…. I can’t do this every morning…” Margaret tied it off a little too tight, smiling up at her husband lovingly. “It gets old.” Alex coughed and loosened it up the best he could, huffing. Though of course, he smiled back.

“Yeah, but I love seeing you in the mornings, and it wakes you up.” Alex leaned down, giving his wife a passionate kiss. “I’ll message you after work, okay? I love you forever.” Margaret kissed him back, giving him a hug.

“Love you forever.”

\-----------------------------------

Alex turned down his radio, turning the car keys to make the car turn off. Was he late? Nope. Right on time. He got out and locked the car, looking up at the already bright Arizona sky.

He sighed and opened the doors to the Black Mesa Arizona Research Facility. It was hustling as usual, people running around with clipboards and pencils in hand. Alex sighed, flipping up his collar and walking down the hallway. He greeted people here and there with a smile and a quick, ‘Hello’. Alex hummed a tune, having heard it on the radio. And then finally, after a long time of searching, he reached his locker. He put his bag inside, grabbing the necessary tools for today’s experiment. Was he nervous? Of course he was, he was helping with the newest proto! Or at least, he was going to watch people set it up while he took notes. It was a process he’d be informed of when it happened. 

Alex shut his locker, not bothering to lock it up. It didn’t matter, no one would steal. People just didn’t do that here. Well, besides Quintus. Quintus played DnD with him on weekends. Quintus ALSO stole everyones ‘pokemon’ cards. Kind of a bitchass, but a cool bitchass. You know? Anywho, no time for that. Alex went back to humming, walking down the halls. Little did he know…

When Alex got to the lab, everything was quiet. Everything except two muffled voices. He furrowed his brow, placing the clipboard and other materials on a nearby table, slowly walking over to the closet. Was… Was that where it was coming from? Oh god. Alex’s hand grasped the door knob, and ripped it open.

Oh

God.

That was a body.

A dead body.

Alex stepped back, letting out a horrified scream, and then, someone came out of it from the edge. They had a mask on, and a gun. But… They had a labcoat, and the standard Black Mesa Uniform. Alex then did what any logical person would do, he ran. He started to breath heavily. Oh god. He needed to leave. Wait, was that-  
Did he just-  
Yep. He went down the wrong hallway. Oh god he was going to die here. Alex felt tears run down his face as he ran, bursting through the doors of a room at the end of the hall. What he didn’t notice however, was the sign that read:  
Acid Pits Overlook. Do not Enter without Proper Gear.  
Alex came to a stop, looking over the edge as he wrenched out a sob. Oh god. Oh god PLEASE SOMEONE HELP. He didn’t believe in god, why was he praying? Well, he wanted to see his family one last time. That was why. He whipped around, staring at the empty mask. He took a step back, hitting the bar. He was going to die here.

“I didn’t want to do this, Mr Carlton. But it looks like your time is up. You just had to look in there, didn’t you?” The figure aimed the gun directly at his head, and Alex just nodded. What else could he do?  
And finally.  
He leaned back just a little too far.  
He was falling.  
He’d never see his family again.  
He’d never kiss Margaret goodbye ever again.  
He’d never drop Maxwell off at school.  
But most of all,  
He’d never get to take a family outing to Baskin Robbins, ever again.

\-----------------------------

**Author's Note:**

> HOLY FUCK. Hi i'm Lab and this is my First ever fic.


End file.
